Nursery List

[pamperedpawsmom]

"Friends that matter don't mind, friends that mind don't matter".

I'm new to this forum and also a soon-to-be new mom - EDD 6/1/04.

My husband and I are now shopping for the nursery items. I would like to know if anyone has or knows of a general check list of baby items especially must haves.

I am now looking through this site for specific information on such items as cribs and changing tables, but would like a thorough list of all the must haves from those experienced parents :) so I don't blow too many $$$ on extraneous items.

Thank you for any and all help.


B

[Lynnie]

i know they have these lists at amazon.com and other websites, but for what its worth, here are some of the things that i really used for my first, and what i will make sure i have for my second.

fisher price kick n play bouncer seat - could not have survived without it. actually bought a second one, to have at grandmas. (some babies prefer swings, but ours didn't, at all. sometimes this would be the only way my husband could get him to sleep, he would rock him in the bouncy seat, then put the entire seat inside the crib.,,,until i saw it and took the poor kid out and let him lay down)

waterproof pads - like lap pads - to put on top of one crib sheet and under either another sheet, or a very tightely tucked thin receiving blanket going across, so when the diaper leaks in the middle of the night, which it will, you don't have to deal with changing the whole sheet with the heavy mattress and the bumpers and all. i also kept (keep) one on top of the changing table, over the terrycloth cover.

although the book says a changing table is a waste, i got mine from e-bay, and it has been so worth it, because i find it easier to change facing the baby's feet, which you couldn't do from all the dresser top changers.

receiving blankets. the thin ones are very very useful if you want to swaddle them when they are little, and to put under them over the pad, etc. I went through lots of them. the thicker nicer ones are good too, but you can really wrap them up securely (the burrito wrap a nurse called it) in the thin ones, and that helps calm some babies.

zoloft. ha ha just kidding....(can you tell someone had a slightly collicky baby there....)

a baby bath tub and LOTS of little washcloths. my husband started the routine of bathing him almost every night, and a cheap tub that fit in the kitchen sink was great. although you could do it in the sink alone, i felt much more comfortable with him in the little tub, and he has always loved bath time. we also got an extra changing pad from a garage sale, and i bought a new terry cover, and put that on the counter next to the sink, so we could get him changed and dressed right there.

tons of little onesies. i thought i would dress him in cute outfits every day - HA ! i would put a onesie on, he would pee all over it. i would put another on, he would pee all over it. etc. since i live in fla, and i tried to do the burrito wrap, he was always plenty warm.

different brands of diapers (i used disposables, but alot of people on this board seem to love cloth) to see which fit best to avoid leakage problems.

if you have a light colored rug, you may want to consider a throw rug for right by the changing area, or you too may experience projectile poop at 3 am, which might just hit you, your pretty white nursing nightgown, and the cream colored nursery carpet...

the first aid kit, with good nail clippers, some kind of gas drops, baby tylenol, etc. of course, the gas drops didn't seem to work here, but the cranky times were only for an hour or so a day usually.

i know there are tons more things, especially as they get a little older, but off the top of my head, those are some of the things in the beginning i found most useful. (and i really was kidding about the zoloft, and am thrilled to be having a second baby soon... hopefully i will be able to deal better with some of the kinks...)

good luck and happy shopping !

[JacksMommy]

Babies are us has a comprehensive list. Here are my must-haves before the baby is born: changing table (IMO, this was made life a lot easier, but you could probably improvise if you want to save the $$, they also have lots of these at second hand stores), diapers, a Boppy or other breastfeeding pillow if you are breastfeeding, diaper pail (I have the Diaper Champ which has worked well for us), infant car seat (i'm all for this, even though Jack grew out of his at 6 mo). I second the previous poster on the bouncy chair as well, and tons of on - I never used any of the cute little 2-piece outfits until DS was at leat 6 months. I would wait on buying a glider/rocking chair (we almost never used ours), nursing stool, swing to see if you really need them and/or baby likes them. It's so exciting to have a little one on the way, I know! but I also know that there is a lot of time to see what you really need/will use after the little bundle of joy is born. Plus, you will get lots of stuff at your shower, so don't go too crazy yet is my advice.

Happy shopping!

Laurel
Mama to Jack, 6/4/02

[vikivoly]

Some of my favorites are as follows:

Changing Table - couldn't have gone without one. Of course you could do the combo/dresser thing, but that wasn't an option for me.

Onesies - you can't have too many, especially if you don't do laundry real often.

Infant Carseat - I like the Graco Snugride.

Crib Mobile - DD really liked hers as an infant.

Ocean Wonders Aquarium - another crib toy that DD (now 13 1/2 months)still uses every day.

Cloth Diapers - for spit up rags, more absorbant than the fancy burp rags.

FP Kick and Play Bouncer - Another one of DD's favorites as an infant.

Swing - I had a hand-me-down FP, can't remember the exact type.

Floor Mat - especially if you don't have carpeted floors.

Newborn Clothes - I know everyone tells you not to buy a lot of 0-3 or newborn size clothes, but DD swam in everything for the first month (even the 0-3 month size). She was avg. size at birth 7lbs. 1oz.

Diaper/Wipe Advice - there is no need to stock up. Buy a couple of packs to have on hand. Everyone thinks you have to buy enough for the first year, but are you really planning on staying in the house for months on end? You're going to get a little stir-crazy, so it's not so bad to run out and pick up a pack when you need it. Especially with a summer baby. Plus, you won't know what brand you like until you use them for awhile.

This obviously is not a comprehensive list, but these are a few of the things that may not be on a "necessity" list.

[Momof3Labs]

Have you looked at Alan & Denise's book (the reason for this site)? That's where I would suggest starting - they give you a ton of great information!!

[Eloise36]

IMHO, here's the stuff we couldn't do without for the first few months:

1. A Simmons contoured changing pad if you don't plan to have a changing table. We have 2 - one on each floor.

2. A bouncer. We have the FP Kick and Play, which is great. We could put DS in it from week 1

3. One or more Boppy pillows if you plan to breastfeed. Again, we have 2 - one on each floor :)

4. Lots of onesies and sleepers. Onesies are great for warmer weather when your baby is born. Sleepers are great for cooler weather. DS lives in sleepers. You definitely don't need any elaborate outfits for the first 6 months. DS didn't get to wear many of the nice outfits he received before he outgrew them.

5. A digital camera. You will be taking tons of pictures, and a digital camera is invaluable for capturing those special moments. Also makes it easy to share photographs of your little one with friends and family who don't live nearby.

6. Lots of cloth diapers even if you plan on using disposables - we use ours as burp cloths, bibs, to cover DS during diaper changes, for laying under his bottom in a crib, etc. They are the most useful things we received from our baby shower.

7. Lots of receiving blankets. We use ours for swaddling, to cover DS while he's in a bouncer or car seat, etc.

8. A starter set of bottles and nipples. If you purchase an Avent Isis breastpump, it comes with two 4 oz bottles that can serve as your starter set. I got an additional three 9 oz bottles by purchasing an Avent microwave sterilizer.

9. A manual breast pump like the Avent Isis if you plan on breastfeeding.

10. IMHO, it's better not to stock up on diapers until after baby arrives when you know better which diapers will work for you. We learned this the hard way - we ended up with an unusable mega size pack of Huggies Supreme diapers because Huggies diapers just kept leaking on DS. We can only conclude that he seems to have the wrong shape for Huggies diapers.

Have fun shopping and preparing for your baby's arrival. Enjoy!

[sbjf]

Hi, I'm a new mom to be also, I'm due in May.

After spending quite a bit of time reading up on what people like/didn't like, what brands were best/worst, etc. I had compiled quite a great bit of notes in a Word document, I cut and pasted parts of posts. It's filled with very useful input.

But, it was not the checklist I had in mind. I felt it would take me a long time to weed through all my notes and develop a checklist of my own so I went to the Babies R Us website and found their checklist page!

Here is a link to that page... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/153505/ref=ba_rc_ch_3/102-7984661-7233717

The link will bring you to the "Nursery Needs" checklist and underneath that list is the heading "More Checklists", very neat!

What I did was saved my initial document as "Nursery Notes" and created a new document called "Baby Checklists".

Then I copy and pasted every single checklist they offered at BRU! I left the blue linked words as is in my word doc in case I do want to read about what BRU has to say/offer about something at a later date.

Now what I'm going to do is add my own little check off line in front of each item on my checklists. I will also add in my own notes (from all my research, including the input given here) next to certain items so that I remember what brand/model is best, etc., and I'll have it one neat spot.

These lists are good, but I'm looking at them as a building block to my own personalized lists. Many things on the BRU lists I will leave, some I may delete, and I'll add some too.

Like just now I read dh the "Hospital" checklist, the dad part, and we needed to add tapes (for video cam), chargers for video cam and digital camera, etc. stuff that you know you'll need but may not be on their list.

Good luck!